Red Tobacco Intense

I’ve never smelled the original and after buying this I don’t think there is a need to. I must admit the first spray I was like uh-oh. Then 15 minutes later the magic started. Smooth smoky slightly sweet right in my wheelhouse. I love winter fragrances and this is an example as to why. Forget those summer freshies that last two or three hours and then you have to reapply. Give me those heavy boozy, smoky, tobacco, sweet fragrances that last eight hours or more. Forget those dupe fragrances that try to copy these fragrances but always fall short somewhere. I have bought dupe fragrances and was always disappointed for one reason or another. The reason is quality of ingredients. After owning this I wouldn’t even consider trying to buy a dupe of it because somewhere it is going to fall short. I agree fragrance prices are getting ridiculous. But who needs 100 fragrances? Ten or fifteen should suffice for a long time and cover every season. So instead of buying thirty or forty fragrances take the money you are saving and buy the real deal. I’d rather have fifteen killer fragrances than thirty or forty eh okay fragrances. After smelling the quality of this Mancera Red Tobacco Intense it convinced me quality over quantity wins every time.

I have a 4 ounce of the original Red Tobacco I got on clearance from local discount store. Honestly? It was ok. I never grew to love the fragrance as I thought I would. My collection is mostly scents of tobaccos, leathers and resins. Some sweet some dry. Some extremely challenging for the average wearer. My problem with Red Tobacco the original EDP is that what many refer to as a fruitiness For me was just an onslaught of sweetness of different shades of red. And super medicinal. Which i normally dont mind. Something about it though, I never could get to the drydwon. The opening and the what I disliked about it made me count the hours of my life wasting away. But oddly enough I would reach for it every once in awhile to smell the atomizer because a single whiff I am able to appreciate it but I dont want to smell like it.

This fragrance gives me Don vibes. It demands attention and is bold , confident , unapologetic yet warm , smooth and refined. Off the top, you have that spicy cinnamon , oud and heavy saffron combination that instantly makes this a cooler weather star performer. The dry down is just beautiful and the lingering smell it leaves on a jacket or coat or even bed sheets… because I have heard how people have still smelled me on their pillows and stuff , the smell is so sexy and sweet. I guess that’s from the vanilla, sandalwood and honeyed tobacco. I sometimes even catch nuances of like dark cherry where I get a brief vibe of Dr.Pepper . I love wearing this fragrance during the winter and fall it’s so perfect for the season and I’m glad it’s approaching so I pull this scent from the shelf.

Okay. Two wearings and I love it. The pungent spicy tobacco overdose from the original really is toned down here, while having an identical scent. This is so much more smooth. There is the same tobacco heavy, spicy and slightly animalic oud profile, while still lasting 16+ hours, but this smells closer to the dry down of the original after like 8 hours. Intense red tobacco has a gorgeous creamy and woody base that really balances the pipe tobacco and smoky oud that pushes so much which makes this a lot more wearable. It’s not an intense version of the OG, but it is an improved version. First impression of this was a 3/5, and I give it a 5/5 now. Montale was able to perfect one of the greatest and most polarizing/inspiring DNA’s of all time, and it’s incredible.

Taking no points off from Red Tobacco Intense but for some reason I didn't feel the same kick as I feel when I go for the original. Having said that, absolutely stunning fragrance, which feels a bit more heavy on cinnamon but almost feels same in the air as original version. The longevity and projection is nuclear - not beast. Intense seems to be way heavier so I think it will last even longer and may project to a lesser distance but still for more time. I have both versions now but a part of me does think if I really needed to be get intense one when I had the option to buy another and different perfume. :).